After six hard-fought games, the New Orleans Saints have reached their bye week.

At 5-1, the black and gold entered Week 7 2.5 games up on anybody else in the struggling NFC South and tied with Seattle for best record in the NFC (until Seattle slammed Arizona Thursday night to improve to 6-1).

With no game to preview today, I’ve decided to grade the Saints’ individual units.

So without any further ado, here are my grades.

Quarterback

Through six games, Drew Brees has thrown for 14 touchdowns and 1,958 yards. Both marks rank second in the NFL entering Week 7 behind Peyton Manning. However, Brees has thrown five picks, a couple of which have come in critical junctures versus Tampa Bay and New England – both of which directly resulted in second-half points for the opponent. As great as the defense has been, this team is going to go as far as No. 9 takes them, so I’ve gotta grade him on a curve a bit. For most quarterbacks, Brees’ performance would be an A. But Brees isn’t most quarterbacks. He’s gotta clean up the mistakes if New Orleans is to play in New Jersey in February. Therefore, I’m giving him a B+ at the bye week. Call it tough love.

Grade: B+

Running backs

It would be easy to crash the backs here for New Orleans’ subpar rushing totals so far this season, but I’m not gonna do that. I know the run game has a heck of a lot more to do than with who’s carrying the ball. And with the exception of Mark Ingram’s fail at the goal line versus Tampa Bay, can you think of a run this year where a poor run was blatantly the back’s fault? The run blocking needs to be better, and that’s not on the backs. They’ve contributed out of the backfield with 61 catches and three receiving touchdowns between Darren Sproles and Pierre Thomas combined. Two rushing TDs for the backs in 2013 is bad, but you can call those short receptions extended handoffs. Plus I really like what I’ve seen out of Khiry Robinson in limited action. I’ll give them a B- because the production is what it is, but any lower would be unfair to this group.

Grade: B-

Wide receivers

The production on the flank has been less than stellar so far. New Orleans really, really, really misses Joe Morgan. I could have added 10 more reallys. Without that deep threat to blow the top of defenses (even as a decoy to open up others underneath) has been a huge loss for this offense. You can’t overstate it. Kenny Stills and Robert Meachem have done their best, but they ain’t Joe Morgan. With that said, Stills doesn’t have to mimic Morgan to have a quality career, and he’s doing well in his own right – most notably with his 34-yard TD catch last week. I also think Toon has a future, even though the team really doesn’t have room to activate him and play him right now. But any time two of the top three and four of the top six pass catchers play positions other than WR, you’ve got issues there. Lance Moore’s hand injury doesn’t help either.

Grade: C-

Tight ends

Quite possibly the biggest A+ of any team in the history of the game through six games. Despite not catching a ball last week, Jimmy Graham still leads the league entering Week 7 with 593 receiving yards and ranks third with six receiving touchdowns. And even with Graham’s void last week, newly-acquired Benjamin Watson caught three passes for 61 yards. New Orleans is a match-up nightmare at the tight end position. They just hope they can stay that way following Graham’s foot injury in Foxborough. Don’t be surprised if the Saints take Graham’s return easy because they’ll need him in November and beyond much more than next week versus Buffalo.

Grade: A+

Offensive line

It’s been a tale of two tasks for the offensive line so far in 2013. The pass protection seems like it has struggled at times. And it has. But only 10 teams have given up fewer sacks than New Orleans, and only six teams have thrown the ball more times. Credit Drew Brees for getting rid of the ball quick enough to keep the sack number down and his body up. Run blocking has been a totally different story though. New Orleans’ 3.4 yards per carry was fifth worst in the NFL entering Week 7, and its three rushing touchdowns rank in the bottom half of the league. New Orleans’ seven FG attempts from 39 yards and closer show the inability to punch it in in the red zone.

Grade: C

Defensive line

Even with the loss of DT Broderick Bunkley for several weeks, the defensive line has held up very well. Rookie John Jenkins has stepped in and held his own. Cam Jordan has emerged into one of the best 3-4 defensive ends in the league with five sacks already. Akiem Hicks has been solid on his transition to the edge. Even backups Glenn Foster and Tyrunn Walker have contributed with sacks. However, the Saints have been bulldozed to the tune of 5.1 rushing yards per attempt – third worst in the league. That starts up front, so I can’t give this group any higher than a B-.

Grade: B-

Linebackers

New Orleans’ linebackers have been every bit as disruptive as Rex Ryan envisioned. Junior Galette has become the stand-up pass-rushing fiend New Orleans hoped he could be with three sacks, and newcomer Parys Haralson has contributed with one from the other side. Curtis Lofton has been a tackling machine with 47 on the year, and the other man in the middle, David Hawthorne, has contributed with 30. However, the rushing yards allowed are still alarming, and although far too many offensive linemen have been allowed to scrape to linebackers and that’s on the D-Line (admittedly, a byproduct of the 3-4), these guys just haven’t been able to fill as many holes as they should. Because it’s largely not their fault, they get a B+.

Grade: B+

Defensive backs

After giving up big play after big play last year, New Orleans’ pass defense has made it back to respectability and beyond. Safety Kenny Vaccaro is a strong Defensive Rookie of the Year candidate. He’s stepped in for the injured Roman Harper, and New Orleans’ defense hasn’t skipped a beat. Vaccaro is second on the team with 33 stops. Corner Keenan Lewis has quietly been an amazing offseason acquisition (at a hometown discount, no less). 224 passing yards allowed per game ranks tied for 10th best in the league, and eight picks is tied for seventh best. This group gets a big time A.

Grade: A

Special teams

The Saints have to be pleased with their special teamers so far in 2013. Kicker Garrett Hartley has made 14-of-16 kicks, and he’s been perfect from 39 yards and closer. 5-for-7 from 40-49 yards out is nothing to sneeze at. Punter Thomas Morstead has lived up to his nickname, “The Leg.” No worries there. Darren Sproles has gotten loose on a couple punt returns although he hasn’t taken any the distance, and New Orleans has been largely good covering punts and kickoffs. Solid special teams so far in 2013, and as long as this unit isn’t costing you in big moments, you’ve got nothing to complain about.

Grade: B+

Coaching

In his absence, New Orleans draped a Sean Payton banner with the words “DO YOUR JOB” written on it in the team’s practice facility last year. However, it wasn’t as good as the real thing. The lack of leadership and discipline was obvious. This year, no such problems. Payton has shown why he indeed deserves to be the highest-paid coach in the game, and he’s earning every penny of that $8 million salary. Add in the culture change that Rob Ryan has brought to New Orleans’ defense, and the Saints are entering just about every game with a leg up over the opponent before the contest kicks off.

Grade: A

Overall

Through six games, the Saints have won road games at Tampa Bay and Chicago and crushed Miami and Arizona at home. Don’t discount their narrow victory over Atlanta when the Falcons were still healthy and confident. They’re just a fingertip away from being 6-0, and if Jabari Greer were 6 foot instead of 5'11", you’d be looking at the difference between an A+ and an A here. Whether it comes from an NFL authority like ESPN or SBNation or if it comes from somebody’s mom’s basement, the Saints’ have moved into everybody’s top five in NFL power rankings. This team is a legitimate threat to reach the Super Bowl, and that’s all any fan base can realistically ask for.